reset old Vtrak E310S to factory defaults

We have inherited an ancient (by computer standards) Vtrak E310S from a research group here. Before recycling it, we would like to reset it to the factory defaults but unfortunately we did not inherit the username/password to login to it. I can successfully connect to it via the RJ11 serial connection but the default username/password settings do not work. I have seen on this forum the following description of what to do (attached below) but my question is: we do not have any kind of support contract and am not interested in it for the box. We just want to reset things back to the factory before anything else is done with it. I have the model number, serial number and firmware version information. If anyone can offer any assistance with this, that would be most appreciated!

In order to reset the password to factory defaults, you need to flash the confuser image to the controller. Please create a websupport case at support.promise.com and follow the steps below then attach the serial logs to this case, so we can send you the confuser image for the current firmware version of the controller,-Connect to the unit through the serial console and power on the unit, Here are the settings for the serial port:Baud Rate: 115200Data Bits: 8Stop Bits: 1Parity: NoneFlow Control: None - Once you logged into the CLI of the Vtrak via the hyper terminal, just re-boot the device and it would display the booting process- Capture the serial logs generated (copy/paste it to notepad) & reply it to this email and do help us with the call back number and time to assist you with this issue.We are looking for the below info in the boot sequence which lists the firmware version,

I looked into this long ago and at the time there was no simple way to reset the password. The only supported option would be to flash the confuser file, which can be done without loging in by using tftp (you'd need to setup a tftp server). The main problem with this solution is that the file is not downloadable from the download page and you'd need to open a CRM.

My best guess for an untested solution is to remove the top of the controller(s) and remove the yellow battery. I don't know how long it will take for this to work, give it at least 10 min to be sure. Then replace the battery and boot up, monitor from the serial connection. You will probably need to set a time and date before it will boot. If you can login with the default password (password) then everything has been reset already. But you can run the factorydefaults command to be sure if desired. If you can't login this may not be a valid approach, but as I said, it's untested.

if you are "recycling" the unit, you don't need to do anything to it. There is no user data or info present in the flash - just controller configuration data. All other array and user data is kept on the drives, so if you are disposing of them too you could format or erase them on another device to be sure the data is gone.

I looked into this long ago and at the time there was no simple way to reset the password. The only supported option would be to flash the confuser file, which can be done without loging in by using tftp (you'd need to setup a tftp server). The main problem with this solution is that the file is not downloadable from the download page and you'd need to open a CRM.

My best guess for an untested solution is to remove the top of the controller(s) and remove the yellow battery. I don't know how long it will take for this to work, give it at least 10 min to be sure. Then replace the battery and boot up, monitor from the serial connection. You will probably need to set a time and date before it will boot. If you can login with the default password (password) then everything has been reset already. But you can run the factorydefaults command to be sure if desired. If you can't login this may not be a valid approach, but as I said, it's untested.

Hi,

Thanks for the tip. I can report that removing the battery off of the controller board does reset the time as well as the network information to their defaults but it does not appear to reset the user information. There are some additional jumpers on the board labeled "reset" and "use default password" which I tried for kicks but all "reset" did was cause the unit to idle upon rebooot. The other appeared to do nothng. My guess is that these expect a technician to have another connection directly to the board since next to these jumpers looks like a set of pins that you'd plug something into.

Apparently the user info is not stored in the NVRAM, that was the only possibility that does not require the confuser file. So you'll need to open a support case to get the confuser file and update from redboot. I can generate instructions once you have the file.